


Reunion

by definitely_indecisive



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur Pendragon Returns, Coffee Shop, M/M, Probably ooc, Reunion, Slash if you squint, can be read without shipping goggles on, i feel everything i write is ooc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2014-11-30
Packaged: 2018-02-27 12:53:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2693702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/definitely_indecisive/pseuds/definitely_indecisive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was supposed to be the one to find Arthur.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this line: "He was supposed to be the one to find Arthur." from Miles to Go by foxfireflamequeen. If you haven't read that fic, you should. It's good. :)

He was supposed to be the one to find Arthur.

\---------------------------------------

"Do you remember? Me. I mean."

His head had been down, immersed into a fantastical book with a whimsical world--one he felt like he belonged in more than here, the present he was being brought back to due to this man's voice, the one without magical creatures and without Arthur. As he picked up his head, his line of vision ran from the text, to his now cold coffee sitting forgotten on the table, to a set of hands nervously wringing a rag, to the stain-splattered shirt of one of the baristas. The name tag said Arthur, and as always whenever he heard or read that name, his heart missed a beat. He jerked his head up, adrenaline pumping and hopes raising, and came eye to eye with the man he had dreamed of every night since he had met him. It couldn't be. This wasn't right. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

"A-Arth-thur." A smile broke out across the man's face. It was so bright it felt like the sun had come back up and had positioned itself right where this man was, blinding him.

"Merlin. Glad to know you still remember me." He could see the sweat now, upon Arthur's brow. His hands were still wringing the rag, and it struck Merlin. He had been genuinely worried that Merlin wouldn't remember him. How could he have ever thought that Merlin went a day without thinking about him? To the point that he didn't even remember him? To the point where he had to be worried about an awkward encounter with an almost in no way stranger?

But what was this anyway? Arthur literally just walked up to Merlin and said hello. Wasn't that supposed to be his job after all this time? After almost 1500 years? Wasn't he supposed to just instinctively know when Arthur was back? Wasn't he supposed to be the one to acclimate him to society and to face with him whatever it was that brought him back? Wasn't he the one that should have found Arthur? NOT the other way around? NOT like what was happening currently?

"Merlin, is that you?." The worried edge to Arthur's voice made him look up. He apparently had gone into his glaring at the ground mode.

The lights were flickering, and a crack had appeared in his coffee mug. There was the distinct sound of something shattering, though he could barely hear that over the blood rushing in his ears. The ground beneath his feet was also rumbling, groaning in a way. He had been surprised out of his apparent stupor by Arthur's voice, and now he was being startled at his sudden outburst of power, especially since he hadn't done something this big and been so unaware of it since around the time that Arthur had died. Those days had been--

"Merlin! Stop!" Arthur had dropped the rag onto the table, the only companion for his abandoned mug, and grabbed onto his wrist. Immediately, he felt his powers calm and started to hear the noises of the people inside the cafe again, becoming less and less oblivious to the world the longer Arthur held on.

"Arthur, I--" He was cut off as Arthur yanked his arm up and pulled him to his feet, his sure grip never leaving his arm.

"Get your stuff Merlin. We're leaving. Now." The growl, for that's the tone he sure had, caused shivers to creep down his spine. He quickly grabbed his coat and book and they carefully made their way out the doors, navigating around the passerby, invisible in the confusion left from Merlin's powers running havoc.

-/-

Arthur towed him away, walking brusquely until they reached an uninhabited alley, a couple minutes away from the coffee house. Neither of them had said a word since the incident, and the silence felt like it was suffocating, almost the point of tangible fingers wrapping around his throat.

"Listen, Arthur I-, I'm sorry okay I--" Arthur dropped his hand and stepped away from him, and it felt like his heart had just shattered. This was it. Arthur came back, found him, and was going to leave him just like that. Shit. He looked down, wishing the world would open up and swallow him whole (not for the first time), and heard Arthur's shoes crunch as he shifted on his feet, and then a barely audible intake of breath.

"Merlin, why are you crying?" Was he? Arthur's voice was alarmed however, and it made Merlin just want to jump into said hole that he wished existed.

"I know Arthur, I'm such a girl and all that." He smiled to himself self-deprecatingly while flashes of aged and blurry memories cascaded through his mind. He was shocked when a solid chest suddenly appeared in his line of vision cushioned his cheek, while a hand sat at the back of his head. He stiffened. "Arthur? What--"

"Shh." Strong arms wound around him, and Merlin leaned in, letting Arthur hold him up. It wasn't like Arthur wouldn't be able to handle his weight. He was pretty sure he hadn't gained a single kilo since the day Arthur...Wait a second.

"Arthur, did you really just shush me?" The rumbling felt odd under his cheek, and it got even worse as it seemed to spread out, and it concerned him for a moment before he realised that Arthur was laughing. At something he said, no less. A smile broke out across his face, and he felt the force of Arthur throwing his head back and guffawing. Eventually they were both laughing, alone together in a small alleyway, and neither realised the other was crying (or crying even harder than he originally was, for that matter) until the laughing stopped and the clinging began.

"Arthur, how did you--"

"You came into my shop!"

"I come in there every weekend!"

"I don't usually work nights." At this point, they disentangled from each other but still both had a hand somewhere on the other, almost as if afraid if they stopped touching then the other one would disappear.

"Arthur?...Can we go to my place? It's close. And I'm cold."

The air rang with Arthur's laughter, the puffs of his breath visible for a second or two in the chilled air, and Merlin wondered how he could have missed this. He could feel it deep down to his very bones, now that he was looking for it. The world was happier with Arthur back. And, well, so was he. Not that he would ever tell the prat that.

Arthur ran his hand down his arm, a tingle running through Merlin, and laced their fingers together. He brought their twined hands to his lips and kissed the back of Merlin's palm, sending heat skittering across Merlin's cheeks.

"Lead the way." The way that Arthur said it made Merlin's heart almost stop and his stomach to jump. The way Arthur spoke implied that there were years to catch up on, and the rest of time itself to explore those things. 

As Merlin pulled Arthur along, neither of them walked particularly fast, as there really was no rush. Not yet, nor any time soon, at least.


End file.
